Six months after its inauguration, the first public medicinal cannabis clinic in Brazil, located in Ribeirão Pires (SP), presents a positive balance: there have already been 499 consultations and 156 registered patients. The unit also distributed 368 free bottles of cannabis-based oil.

Installed at the Ibrahim Alves de Lima Center, the clinic was inaugurated in March of this year, as a result of a partnership between the City Hall and the Flor da Vida Association. The goal of the space is to guarantee free access to treatment for residents enrolled in CadÚnico.

The focus of the care is on patients with pathologies such as fibromyalgia, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), epilepsy, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.

Medicinal cannabis clinic as a model

Mayor Guto Volpi emphasizes that the municipality's experience should inspire new initiatives in the Greater ABC region and in other areas. "We are showing that it is possible to break prejudices, offer quality of life, and generate hope for entire families. From here, we want to take this example to the entire ABC Consortium, so that more cities can have clinics like this," he stated in a note.

In an interview with Portal Sechat, Volpi highlighted that the clinic treats more pathologies than those provided for by the state SUS, showing "results that can also be extended to a national level". According to him, the expansion of regulation "is on the verge of being approved by the Senate".

Pioneering legislation as the basis of the project

The pioneering spirit of Ribeirão Pires is also reflected in its legislation. In 2022, the city was the first in the state to approve a specific law for the Municipal Medicinal Cannabis Policy (Law No. 6.737/22).

The regulation, authored by the then councilor and current mayor Guto Volpi in co-authorship with Edmar Oldani, establishes guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and public debate on the benefits of medicinal cannabis.